COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Nov. 3, 2011) – The U.S. women’s beach volleyball team of Jen Kessy and April Ross won its first two matches on Thursday at the Phuket Thailand Open, the final event of the 2011 FIVB Swatch World Tour.

The second-ranked team of Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) have advanced to Friday’s third round, where they will face Czech Republic’s seventh-ranked Kristyna Kolocova and Slukova Marketa.

The 11th-seeded U.S. team of Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Brooke Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.) lost its second-round match and will play in consolation on Friday against Great Britain’s 21st-ranked Shauna Mullin and Zara Dampney.

Kessy and Ross opened play on Thursday with a 21-12, 21-15 victory in 34 minutes over Latvia’s 31st-seeded Inguna Minusa and Inese Jursone. In the second round, Kessy and Ross topped Canada’s 18th-seeded Heather Bansley and Elizabeth Maloney, 21-10, 21-14 in 33 minutes.

Fendrick and Hanson scored a first-round defeat of Mexico’s 22nd-ranked Candelas Bibiana and Mayra Garcia, 21-17, 21-15 in 36 minutes. However, they fell in the second round to Brazil’s sixth-seeded Taiana Lima and Vivian Danielle da Conceição Cunha, 21-17, 21-15 in 36 minutes.